1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to novel compounds having antineoplastic properties, to their production, to a pharmaceutical composition containing an amount of at least one compound according to the invention which is effective to inhibit the growth of tumors in experimental animal systems, and to a method for therapeutically treating an experimental animal by administering an amount of at least one compound according to the invention which is effective to inhibit tumor growth in an experimental animal system.
2. Background Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,487,925 and 4,552,842 disclose the anti-tumor agent designated rebeccamycin, and the 5'-methyl and 5',2",3",6"-tetraacetate derivatives thereof, and a process for producing the same agent by cultivating a rebeccamycin-producing strain of Nocardia aerocolonigenes, preferably Nocardia aerocolonigenes ATCC 39243, or a rebeccamycin-producing mutant thereof in an aqueous nutrient medium containing assimilable sources of carbon and nitrogen under submerged aerobic conditions until a substantial amount of rebeccamycin is produced.